Clarkston cousins to appear on History Channel inventors show WITH VIDEO

Clarkston cousins Kevin Ferguson, pictured, and Eric Brittingham will be featured on the History Channel's "Invention USA" tonight with their creation the Human Hoist. The invention, which Ferguson is showing off, was designed to help improve the efficiency and help of automotive shop workers.

The newest episode of "Invention USA" will bring exposure to Clarkston cousins and their new invention -- the Human Hoist.

Called "the ultimate power shop chair," Eric Brittingham and Kevin Ferguson devised the Human Hoist to improve efficiency and the health of anyone working in an automotive shop.

"For me, the Human Hoist really became a necessity" while working as a body shop technician, Brittingham said.

"Everybody who works on concrete is constantly crouching and bending over, kneeling or rolling on the ground," he said. "People are wearing out their knees and hips, so (the Human Hoist) is the office chair for the shop."

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Expecting to create a new market, the Human Hoist is an automated, robotic, reclining worker's dream on wheels.

The frame of the powered shop chair is designed for lifting, lowering and reclining to any worker's convenience. As seen in the demonstration video on the team's website -- www.HumanHoist.com -- the chair is powered by two 18-volt rechargeable batteries with hydraulic and spring torsion, has three wheels, adjustable arm controls and magnetic tool trays on either side, too.

The cousins designed their shop recliner to shrink from a 26-inch-chair to a flat 4-inch creeper for sliding under vehicles while working, stopping at all heights in between.

"We combined some different technologies of hydraulics and the new lithium batteries, and we came up with the new idea and the new concept that nobody's doing," Brittingham said. "So we hope we're on the front edge of this wave."

Brittingham's partner, Ferguson, described the production as quite complex. "It sounds easier than it turned out to be."

But these inventors used hand tools and items found at every hardware store to bring their blueprints to life. "We don't have any of the fancy equipment," Ferguson said. "We're just two average guys -- hardworking guys -- with a dream and trying to make it come true."

Having several invention ideas in the past, the cousins hope this achievement will get the ball rolling for their next project.

The partners' shared goal is to create jobs for Michigan. Finding local investors for their product is a priority to "put people to work because I know it's tough out there," he said.

Brittingham and Ferguson were first inspired to construct the Human Hoist more than 15 years ago.

Experiencing a rough couple of years in the construction industry, Ferguson said it was "time to try one of the projects." He thought, "We've got to do it before somebody else does."

Now having finished the prototype and looking forward to the airing of their episode on History, "It's just kind of surreal," Ferguson said. "I feel like a 5-year-old waiting for Christmas."

Brittingham agrees.

"It's been a lot of fun, I've met people that I probably could not have met just by making phone calls.

"I've watched (the TV show) 'Shark Tank' and have seen 'Inventors' for the last seven years," Ferguson said, "And this is the best idea ever. We are America's best inventors and we came from this area."

Regarding marketing their invention, the cousins have committed to working exclusively with the History Channel until the episode airs.

The partners are in the final stages of patenting Human Hoist -- international patent rights as well -- Brittingham said, a process that's taken almost two years.

As a fun side note, Ferguson said he had his first job working on a paper route for The Oakland Press when he was only 11 years old. He saved his money and a few years later, purchased his first car when he was 15. To this day, he still has that car.